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Report of holstered firearm puts Dakota County Technical College on lockdown

A report of what appeared to be a holstered firearm put Dakota County Technical College on lockdown for more than an hour Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 10, 2018.

An "all-clear" notification was issued around 2:45 p.m. The campus was placed on lockdown around 1:30 p.m. after a call came in to the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office that a student observed a male on campus with an apparent firearm in a holster, according to an update posted on the sheriff’s office Facebook page.

A deputy assigned to the campus coordinated the lockdown. A search was conducted with multiple law enforcement agencies and the subject of the initial report was not located, according to the sheriff’s office.

All classes for the day and evening will continue as normal, the school announced. The incident did not affect the South of the River Education Center in Burnsville.

The school stated the following in a statement following the incident:

“Proper protocols were followed to alert the campus community and begin evacuation. The campus community was notified via the StarAlert emergency system, which sends calls, emails and texts to all contacts on file for students and staff.”

DCTC is a two-year state college. The student population in the 2016-2017 academic year was 2,254 pupils, according to the school's website.

Michael Brun joined RiverTown Multimedia at the Red Wing Republican Eagle in March 2013, covering county government, health and local events. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls journalism program.